From Favre to McNabb, the Vikings love those veteran quarterbacks

As if the purple-and-yellow didn’t have enough bad veteran play with Brett Favre, here they go again. The Washington Redskins have reportedly agreed to the framework of a trade that would send quarterback Donovan McNabb to the Minnesota Vikings. The Redskins would receive a sixth-round draft pick in 2012 and a conditional pick in 2013 in return.However, the deal is contingent on McNabb restructuring his contract.

The Vikings had long been mentioned as the team with the most interest in McNabb, and the quarterback also had a desire to play for Minnesota, which runs a system that is very similar to the one he ran for 11 seasons in Philadelphia. But it was always believed that in order for a trade to be completed, the quarterback would have to agree to rework his contract. The Redskins last November gave the six-time Pro Bowl quarterback a contract extension that included a $3.5 million bonus for the 2010 season. They would have had to pay him a $10 million bonus if he still was on the roster the day after the first game of the 2011 season.

Sources had said earlier this year that McNabb would be willing to rework his deal in order to leave Washington. Tuesday afternoon, word surfaced that the Redskins and Vikings had settled on the framework of a deal, but that the $10 million bonus could have complicated matters.

But Washington had little leverage after Mike Shanahan benched the quarterback twice last season and after people within the organization repeatedly criticized McNabb anonymously following his benching. Further indication that McNabb no longer was in Washington’s plans was Shanahan’s strong endorsement of John Beck, last year’s third-string quarterback, following April’s NFL draft.

McNabb passed for 3,377 yards, 14 touchdowns and 15 interceptions while completing 58.3 percent of his passes last season.